Indiegogo Kreyos Smart Watch Disaster

Last year, I wrote a blog post entitled, “Kickstarter Buyer Beware,” and I talked about the delays with two projects I backed on crowdfunding platforms – The iExpander and the the Kreyos smartwatch.  I won’t go into detail here on the iExpander, but a year after the post and 2 years since the Kickstarter campaign… I still don’t have an iExpander. I thought I’d give you an update on the Kreyos smartwatch I tried funding via Indiegogo.

Much like other campaigns, it started with the announcement of a few delays… and then a few more. However, the folks at Kreyos were pretty good about showing video of their prototypes in action. So, my confidence in it was building… until it came completely crashing down when they finally announced they were shipping the device.

The creators of the device posted a long blog post about how it all came crashing down, but here’s how I managed to narrowly avoid an $175 loss:

There were not signs of issues with the smartwatch when it started shipping – other than the fact that the shipping was extremely disorganized (but that was no surprise for a startup).  I was disappointed, because I moved this summer, and they shipped it to my old address. I was told by their terrible customer service (again, I thought this wasn’t too big of a deal, since they were a startup) that I’d have to wait for the watch to get declined by the new owners of my home, returned to Kreyos, and then it could be shipped to my new address.

At first, there seemed to be a lot of complaints about people not receiving the correct items. Again, I thought this wasn’t too big a deal, since the startup was using incompetent Chinese labor. Then, people began complaining about how the watch was taking on water simply from showering (it was supposed to be completely waterproof, which they revised to say it would be waterproof to 10 meters). Then everything came completely crashing down and the company completely folded up with the blog post I referenced earlier.

It appeared that Indiegogo immediately backed away from the problem, stating that they were essentially just an intermediary. It made me want to boycott Indiegogo completely. I still hadn’t received my Kreyos, so I contacted my credit card company and disputed the charge from Indiegogo. Since I never received the item, my credit card company removed the charge (except for the PayPal surcharge – but being out $5, is better than being out $175).

Again, I urge you to avoid these sites. No matter what kind of discount I might receive for funding something on Kickstarter or Indiegogo, it simply isn’t worth the risk of the item coming out late, faulty, or never at all. I think there’s a place in the market for a crowdfunding site that has more oversight and insurance from such issues… and hope one comes out soon. As for me, from now on, I’m going to wait until a product hits the open market and is tested before I buy.

Kickstarter Buyer Beware

Kickstarter is a cool concept – contribute to a project or idea that might not otherwise get off the ground. In appreciation for your support, developers offer rewards.  I’m not sure if it was intentional when they started it, but it’s spawned a new type of startup company. One that, if a company can entice enough consumers to “buy into” their idea, they should have enough money to make that idea happen. Your reward then becomes the finished product.

I was very intrigued by this new business model, and was very impressed with the creativity and innovation of many of the ideas. One that caught my eye last year was the “iExpander.” It promised an extra battery, much better camera flash, and an expandable memory slot for a microUSB, solving the major issues I was having with my iPhone 4S – bad battery life, bad pictures in low light, and not enough memory. The video they showed was impressive, and the fact that they already had several working prototypes built (and language on the site) lead me to believe I’d be receiving mine less than a month and a half after the campaign ended – ready for Christmas 2012.

More than a year later, I’m still waiting for my iExpander, and it’s not going to function nearly as I thought it would. They’ve hit snags with Apple, engineering, and manufacturing. The battery doesn’t tie in nearly as seamlessly as it was supposed to and the expandable memory is now a proprietary removable module. In the meantime, I’ve also upgraded to an iPhone 5S, which now has a better flash than was planned. Technology moves fast, and while iExpander has been working out it’s issues for more than a year, my need for the product has disappeared (I also upgraded to a 64GB memory in my new phone).

What I didn’t realize, was how common this is. CNN published a list of Kickstarter’s top 50 projects, and when they shipped. So, I share my story, just to say “buyer beware” if you choose to look at Kickstarter (or Indiegogo, or any other crowdsourced sites) as a way to buy some cutting edge new projects.

Don’t get me wrong, they’re not all bad. In fact, one of the most successful campaigns, the Pebble smartwatch, encouraged me to try it again. This time, I was very impressed with the prototype videos of the Kreyos Meteor smartwatch. It appears to be way more advanced than the Pebble, and does more of what I want a smartwatch to do. I took a chance as an “early adopter” and signed up for one.

Again, the Kreyos smartwatch prototypes looked so promising, and they appeared to have it all together, also promising to have them completed within a couple months of the campaign ending. Well, the Kreyos Meteor smartwatch was supposed to be shipped at the end of November, and that date has obviously come and gone. The most recent update said they hope to have it finished by mid-February. This is exactly how the  iExpander started out and I’m still waiting for that one over a year later.  I’m not going to hold my breath.

St. Louis Mini Micro Brew Tour

This past weekend, I visited St. Louis and got to play a couple of rounds of golf and visit several microbreweries. As you can imagine, a very fun and relaxing weekend was had. On Friday evening, our first stop was The Stable, a somewhat new brewpub and microbrewery in the old stables of the Lemp Brewery (almost across the street from A-B). Looking at their brew system, it looks like they’re just getting started brewing their own and it looked like it was about a 20-25 gallon brew system. Despite only having one of their beers on tap – the Marzen, which was quite good – they did carry quite a nice selection of local and regional brews on tap. I was able to try another newer nearby brewery’s beer, which was recommended by my friend – Charleville Brewery‘s Hoptimistic. Our next stop was Mattingly Brewing Company, where I had the brown ale and their tripel. Both were pretty good. Our next stop for the evening was Square One Brewery in Lafayette Square. I had the IPA from the cask and their Single Malt Scotch Ale. Not bad, but both seemed a little on the light side. We stopped at Randall’s to pick up some bottles to go, and I got some of Charleville’s Hoptimistic and Amber Ale, some Schlafly APA, Racer 5 IPA, and some of Avery’s Maharaja. Our last stop of the evening, was the Cabin Inn at the City Museum – not a microbrewery, but a unique bar where we could get Schlafly.

Saturday was an early tee time at Tapawingo National Golf Course, but we finished in perfect time to enjoy lunch at Schlafly’s Bottleworks. There, I enjoyed their Helles Summer Lager and their Export IPA… both very good. The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent laying by the rooftop pool watching the activity at the City Museum and enjoying some of my homebrews. Sunday was a rough morning, but we managed to get in a round at Annbriar Golf Course before I headed home.

A great weekend, which I can’t wait to repeat again soon!

Skype for iPhone

It’s finally here… one of the apps I’ve been waiting for since I purchased my iPhone – Skype. If you’re not familiar with it, Skype is an instant messenger, voice-over ip, and video teleconferencing service. It’s free as long as you use it to contact other Skype users through the service… however, you can pay for the service and use it to make/receive phone calles, etc. With Skype on my iPhone, I’ll now be able to chat (only on a wi-fi network) without having to use my cell phone minutes. I’m only hoping that the next version of the iPhone firmware will surprise us with video capabilities and we’ll be able to use the Skype app for video conferencing (although I’m not quite sure how to watch the other person and shoot video of myself at the same time – at least without doing it in front of a mirror).

Youtube to offer downlods

Google announced today it is going to test downloadable videos on their site for veiwing offline on portable devices like the iPod and iPhone. This is great for being able to take videos with on a plane and other places where you can’t get Internet access. I really hope this will be successful and will encourage other video sites (like Hulu) to do the same. For now, Youtube is merely testing this and may actually charge for downloading videos that you could veiw on their site for free – and it’ll only be an option for a few of the sites professionally produced content. At least some will be downloadable and that is progress.

Vending Touchscreen

As I mentioned in an earlier post about touchscreen technologies we saw at CES, touchscreens were being applied from cell phones to computers and netbooks. However, there was one application I failed to mention – retail vending. As seen in the photo here, Coke worked with touchscreen technology to create a vending machine for their products. As you can see in the photo, it was anactual working Coke machine (dispensing drinks for free at CES to attract more attention). The touchscreen on the front allowed them to run promotions attracting attention (when someone wasn’t buying a coke). The user interface with the screen to select your drink and make a purchase was extremely easy. I couldn’t tell if it worked like the Microsoft Surface (where you can just put your credit card up against it to pay), or allowed you to connect to an online bank (i.e. Paypal) to pay for your coke, but if it doesn’t I’m sure they’ll get there soon.

CES 2009

I’m getting ready to head to the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. All of the new technology toys, tools, and gadgets will be on display there – too bad Christmas is over. I’ll try and give some updates on the stuff I see and do while there. Vegas baby, Vegas.

Loving Skype

I’ve had Skype for a while now, but could never find anyone else I knew on their search tool. Finally, over the holidays my brother-in-law mentioned he had it as well. We used it to video conference with his family a few times over the holidays. It was great to be able to see them and chat face to face. Now I only wish my parents were able to get a high-speed connection out where they live… I know they’d enjoy video chatting with the kids.

Impulse Buy?

My family and I stopped into the dollar store yesterday to look for some little toys for our kids. We found a couple of toys for the pool/bathtub and a coloring book or two. My wife took the kids to the car while I waited in the checkout line. Around the checkout were the normal sorts of last minute buys – candy, superglue, etc. Although one thing caught my eye and left me a bit perplexed. Right next to the Chapstick were pregnancy tests! First, would you really trust a pregnancy test you picked up at the dollar store? Second, is a pregnancy test really an impulse buy?

Are you ready…

I’m not quite sure if FEMA is the first place most people would turn for preparedness information, but can you really prepare for a nuclear blast? Apparently you can, see the FEMA website at – http://www.fema.gov/areyouready/nuclear_blast.shtm

Although lightning supposedly never strikes the same spot twice, you can also be prepared for lightning. And if you happen to be “anywhere you feel your hair stand on end (which indicates that lightning is about to strike),” you should “Squat low to the ground on the balls of your feet. Place your hands over your ears and your head between your knees. Make yourself the smallest target possible and minimize your contact it the ground. DO NOT lie flat on the ground.” So now you know. Visit www.fema.gov for these and other helpful survival tips.